RN Orientation Week 4

I worked Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday this week.

Tuesday seemed to just be a mess. I started out with four patients and all seemed to need a lot of care or had something new I hadn't dealt with before. I struggled getting my assessments completed and my meds given. I swear I was still working on medications and charting by lunch time. It was terrible. My preceptor had to do so much to help me. I wanted to sit in a corner and cry. I discharged one patient and admitted one patient by the end of the day.

Wednesday was so much easier. I knew 3 of my patients already so I only had to learn about one that had been admitted during the night. It was super easy to get my assessments and medications done by 10am. I think I even had my charting completed by then. I felt like a pro because I could actually keep up with everyone. I discharged two patients and got two new patients by the end of my shit, I am getting awesome at doing the discharging and getting way better at admitting. I got lots of practice calling the doctors and feel like I am getting better at actually talking to the doctors, it is super intimidating. I seem to studder a lot.

Saturday was really laid back. I had four patients that were pretty easy. One patient was a little rude and mean but I learned from family that maybe some pain meds were causing some side effects. A little change of meds and I have a wonderful and sweet patient, great lesson learned - don't just give whatever meds are prescribed, always look at side effects, age, other meds, the way the patient is acting... and I can always call the MD and get a new order or have dosing changed. I had a patient that lost something very important during the whole fiasco of calling 911 and coming to the hospital so I spent a little time calling a bunch of numbers and ended up finding the item, I felt like a million bucks for actually finding the item and they were so very THANKFUL !! It was amazing to come through for the patient and family.  I took care of one discharge and my day went fairly smooth. I got almost all my meds and assessments done 10am and was able to catch myself up and the day ended on a pretty good note. My biggest bummer was my failed IV stick:( I really do need to get a few good sticks under my belt.

Sunday was so easy {having your same patients makes things way better because you already know the medications and the illness and how they move} !!!  The day was completely laid back. I had three of the same patients and did not admit a fourth until the very end of the day, like seriously i took report for the patient, did part of the admit process and handed off report to the next shift. I had written down everything I needed to know about my patients Saturday night so that  receiving report Sunday morning went very quickly and I could get my day started right away. I managed to get all my meds and assessments and charting done by 10am. I rarely asked for help. I got to change a dressing and do a few other new things that my amazing preceptor helped me with. I learned that patients can be in amazing condition one minute then be in terrible shape the next moment so I need to check on my patients often, look at vital signs more often and pay attention to lab results. And something amazing to keep in mind is that a lot of meds have tylenol in them so when I want to give tylenol for a fever or pain.  And did I mention I had someone mention to me and my preceptor that they had no idea I was on orientation and I seemed to really know what I was doing.

I am learning a ton every day and feeling more confident with each shift. I am very nervous to be on my own but I am confident I will get any help I need from any of the amazing nurses I will be working with. I just really need to focus on time management. If I can get my meds and assessments completed by 9am or close to it every day I will have time to get almost everything else done.

RN Orientation Week 3

Three 12 hour shifts this week and each day I had 4 patients. I think I did pretty good. My preceptor thinks I did pretty good. We both agree that I really need to work on time management.

Day one with four patients went just okay. I used my preceptor a ton and asked a lot of questions. I felt like I just wasn't fast enough to get everything done and I kept forgetting to do small things, like call the cardiac monitor office when my patient was taken off the cardiac monitor or look up all my labs. I was able to hang medications and give medications on my own, which seemed really weird because I still feel like I am in school sometimes. I make sure to go slow and pay close attention when I am taking all my meds out of the medication machine and I look up each medication {well if I don't already know what the med is}.

Day two with four patients started off a little rough. I thought I would do great and I had a nice system down but I somehow got behind on my assessments which made me get my meds a little late and then I had to chart way later in the day. I literally was running my feet from the time I got there until lunch and then I still felt way behind on time. I really need to get into a better system and manage my time way better. I also need to learn to not let patients talk my ear off because it keeps me in the room way too long, even if I am truly interested in their stories. In the end I did an okay job. My preceptor helped less which means I did way more. I am improving.

Day three with four patients started out really great because I had two patients I had the day before which made getting a report way easier since I already knew all about them. I had a plan to jump in right away and get my assessments done, get my meds done, get my insulin done, and then chart. I was on point and it felt great. I still need to work on time management, checking labs and MD orders more frequently, talking to doctors, piecing all the consults together, and remembering the special things that happen with patients, as in taking care of CBIs {continuous bladder irrigation}, foleys, PICC lines, feeding tubes..........  all the extra tubes and meds and special situations that any patient could have. I feel like I did really well all the way to lunch, I had all my assessments and meds complete, I kept up on any pain meds or PRN meds. I had all my charting done. I was actually able to grab a snack and a drink during the morning. Then I went to lunch and I just played catchup the rest of the day. I don't know what it is about coming back from lunch and not being able to jump right in and keep my groove going. There are assessments and charting and discharges and admits that need to be done and I just can't seem to make it all flow nicely like I do during the day.  In the end I think I did pretty good. I mean I have worked 5 complete shifts on the floor and I am already taking care of 4 patients plus discharging and admitting as needed.

My preceptor is AMAZING!!  She checks my charting throughout the day, she keeps a checklist of what needs to get done and crosses it off as I do it, she helps with hanging meds {I need to take a class on how to work the IV pump machine}, she checks on the patients periodically throughout the day, she helps talk to doctors with me, and the best thing about her is that she is so super laid back and does NOT get excited when things aren't going exactly to plan. I am totally one to feed off people and I desperately need people surrounding me that are capable of staying completely calm even if they are hitting the panic button on the inside. I am super amazing at staying calm, cool, and collective when my brain is freaking out and wondering how to finish the million of things I need to do or when a patient or family member is going crazy in the room about whatever.

So three weeks into my new career and so far I think it is going pretty great.  Although I do feel like my life is one giant run on sentence that is missing all the punctuation and read with one single breath until I run out of breath and fall to the ground HAHA

Okay so getting used to waking up in the middle of the night to get to work on time is a little stressful and requires some {A LOT} caffeine. Getting used to working 12 full hours again is super tough, especially since I am still waking up with my boy in the middle of the night. Learning that I may not leave the hospital until 730 each night is taking a lot of getting used to. Coming home to an already asleep little boy is super tough. Hearing my baby ask me to come home during lunch to snuggle him is heart breaking. Keeping up with already planned activities with friends and family after working two 12 hour shifts in a row is super TOUGH!! Figuring out how to conserve my energy and plan to get my house chores done has been difficult since I am super exhausted and don't feel like walking at all after working.

But I am super happy to be working. I am super happy to finally get to do what I have wanted to do for a long time. Being able to say "I am a nurse" is AMAZING!!  It makes me smile to know my chosen career is helping people, I may not save a life every single day but what I do makes a difference and getting winked at by a patient each and every time I come into the room just puts icing on the cake. And I would have to say that the hubby is a little relieved knowing we are both putting money in the bank account.

I should also mention that this would not be possible without my wonderful mommy!! She is AMAZING for coming down and staying a few nights to help with Micah so that he doesn't have to go to a daycare and I don't have to wake him up so early. She also cleans up my house a little, folds my laundry, and does some of my dishes.

I also have to thank my wonderful friend, Rachel, for being so amazing and watching Micah when he isn't staying home with my mom. Between the two of them I think we have an amazing setup for child care. Micah absolutely loves Rachel's kids and animals and he is super excited when he gets to go over there. She is super laid back and extra loving so he just has a blast over there.

RN Orientation week 2

Monday: Since I had the issues during my first week and ended up missing some of orientation I had to make it up. So I got to spend most of the day in an office with another new hire watching videos and talking to insurance people. Not very exciting, but it needed to be done.

Tuesday: My only day off for the week!!!  And I enjoyed it:)

Wednesday: FIRST DAY ON THE FLOOR!!!!  I completely lucked out and got an AMAZING nurse preceptor, she is super sweet and laid back. I was just shadowing and helping all day. I really didn't take care of one patient, instead I just learned the schedule and some special charting. I performed a few assessments, discharged a patient and admitted a patient, and actually got to perform some skills on some patients that I only did in school. It was really nice to just do things and get the experience, I just cannot wait to put it all together and have a full day flow so nicely.

Oh and I should mention here that it would not be a great day for my first EVER floor shift as a nurse if something completely off the wall did not happen.......

We had a tornado warning that was in effect for pretty much the whole day!!

Thursday: I got to spend half the day in the computer lab training a little more and then I got to spend the entire afternoon going over paper work and policies with my floor manager and nurse educator. It was a super long day that I was not expecting so I was exhausted and my brain was fried by the time I got to leave.

Friday: Second day on the floor.  She gave me two patients right away. I basically cared for two patients all day on my own {ok so I asked about a billion questions, she had to help me chart a ton, & she had to mention something I forgot to look at}. I ended up admitting another patient {so I had 3 at one point} and then I discharged one. It was a very busy day and I felt lost at times, but I stayed positive and just kept going.

I worked with an AMAZING CA {nurses aid} that had been a CA for about 15-20 years. She was totally awesome and so very helpful to me, she even taught me how to do some things. At the end of the day {in front of my preceptor} my CA told me that I had her fooled all day and she was convinced I was a nurse somewhere else and that I was just changing hospitals. My preceptor even praised me!

I left feeling so amazing and proud and confident and EXHAUSTED!!!!

My weekend was FREE so I spent it relaxing as much as I could with a preschooler and a messy house.

So here is to another week of awesome! A week of me being totally confident and taking on 3-4 patients a shift. A week of me getting my day to flow just right. A week of me getting used to working so much. A week of me perfecting charting skills. A week of me learning way more.

RN 1st week of Orientation

 I recently got hired on at a local hospital on the cardiac floor  and just completed my very first week of work.  It was definitely a long and emotional week for me.

 I was called for an interview, had the interview, offered the job,  and  started work within a two week  timeframe.   I had to get my physical done a few days before I started work and since my veins are really hard to get I thought I would drink a few bottles of water, but it ended up being too much and my urine came back diluted.  The hospital called and had me go retake my test but I couldn't P enough the first time so they had me sit out in the waiting room and drink a bunch of water and come back to test again.  I figured all was well so on Monday morning I went in for my first day of orientation.

shawn was able to come home from the station early to be with Micah so i could just get to work.  I managed to get to work very early so I was very relaxed and just went to the room and set up all my stuff and waited for everyone else to show up. I got to sign in and get a bunch of my paperwork filled out and I got my picture taken for my ID. I was there for about an hour and a half before the hiring manager came in and pulled me out and told me that my last urine from Friday morning was diluted again.  Per policy my job offer was to be terminated { although she would call around and see if there was anything that could be done}  and I needed to leave. 😭😭 I could have went back in the room and stayed until the next speaker came so I wouldn't make such an exit.

I was shocked. I was heart broken. I couldn't believe it.

I went to the bathroom and cried while I tried texting my husband, mom, & sister. This couldn't be real, this couldn't be happening. There is no way GOD would really let me get this far and let me down.

I went back into the room and tried to stay while I quietly packed up my stuff { I wanted no attention on me} but eventually the tears were coming out again so I just snatched up the rest of my stuff and basically ran to my car. I called my mom on the way home and just cried into the phone. I tried calling my husband but he wasn't answering the phone so when I showed up at home he had no idea why I was home.  He seemed really confused and didn't really say or do much. I just dropped all my stuff and cried into my can of Dr Pepper.

Eventually my phone rang with some semi good news. It was my hiring manager calling to tell me that she managed to get me one more urine test but that it had to come back testable, {I had to pee and was about to go right before she called} so I ran to my car and drove straight up to the testing center.

I came back home and called her to let her know I got it done and she just said to hang out and wait  until the results came back. LONGEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE!! I had cried myself into a migraine so I just took some meds and went to bed. I woke up long enough to have dinner with Micah and play with him a little before convincing him to go back to bed with me. The next morning Micah woke up at like 6am so I had to wait a long time before I could call and check on my results.

I finally heard from the hospital around 930am and  they said my urine test came back fine and that I could come back to orientation. I'm so excited I hung up the phone and screamed, Shawn and Micah came and gave me a giant hug.  I needed to shower and get dressed and be there by noon.

GIANT SIGH OF RELIEF. Quickly followed by fear and embarrassment. How was I going to walk back into orientation with all the same people ?

 I made it back by noon on Tuesday and sat in the room and ate my lunch that I brought and then we started the RN orientation.  I felt a little lost but everyone was very helpful. We learned how to clock in and we went over some policies and skills. It was a pretty relaxed afternoon of sitting in a classroom setting.

Wednesday was Shawn's day to work so we all had to get up extra early and leave the house.  I dropped Micah off with the baby sitter for the first time, which was difficult even though he was super excited to go to Mrs. Rachel's house, and headed to work. We had computer training for the first half of the day and more training on hospital equipment and policies. Another relaxed easy day. When I got to Rachel's house to get Micah he met me with the greatest excitement about his day and his plans to stay a few more hours to play with Legos, HAHA! I managed to do some grocery shopping, go home and cook dinner, wash the bedding { since Micah wet the bed the night before}, fix lunches for Thursday, get us fed and in bed at a normal time. It felt like a really great day.

Since daddy doesn't get to leave the fire station until 7am I had to take Micah to Rachel's house for a few hours { just until daddy could get there}. I got to the hospital area way too early so I ran over to Panera and grabbed one of their baskets of bagels and as I was coming back to the hospital I realized there were police cars everywhere blocking off streets and parking lots. Thankfully I was in the computer training building which was right off the main road so I could park and head inside. I quickly learned that there was an active shooter situation in the apartments right behind the hospital and that there may have been shots fired at the hospital so our hospital had to go into lockdown.  NEVER have I ever been in a situation like this so I was a little nervous and really didn't know what we were supposed to do.  We ended up leaving our room open for the rest of the class but someone came by and told us to shut it. I am not sure if our  building ever got locked. We looked up the news on the computer and just watched as updates came in between our training. It turns out a couple were shooting { what appeared to be} at the construction workers working on the hospital and this is what started the entire situation.  The couple were arrested and our day went on as normal. Half a day of computer training and then some policy and procedure type training and I was free go home.

Friday we spent the day in the hospital SIM lab, yup we get a SIM lab that I am able to use if I need training on something, the hospital uses it for training in different situations also.  We had a pretty relaxed day going over some more equipment and procedures and then we were able to tear apart a crash cart and just familiarize ourselves with it.

It was a long and emotional week.  Taking Micah to the babysitters was tough because he keeps asking if I am going to my different home now. { daddy works 24 hours so he sleeps at his job when he works, Micah is convinced he had another home and will randomly ask if daddy is "spending the night with us". So now Micah is thinking since daddy is gone for that long then surely mommy is too because that's how jobs work right}.  I'm trying hard to just stay positive because he really LOVES going to Mrs. Rachel's house and playing with her kids and pets and toys, but it's tough because I just want to stay home and snuggle him forever.  I do explain everything To him often. I tell him what will happen before each day so he is aware.

The days he will have to be somewhere for my 12 hour shifts will be so tough on everyone involved but I'm hoping I can always leave him with loved ones or Mrs. Rachel so it isn't so bad on him.

Excuse my spelling and grammar errors. I typed this whole blog on my phone in between parenting and working and getting house chores done!!

I am a NURSE

I recently graduated and passed board!!!

I am a NURSE!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot believe that all my hard work has finally paid off. I am officially a NURSE!

It has been a long two years with lots of tears and sweat but I finally made it. I am excited to put my skills to work and continue my education. I am hoping to have my Masters within the next ten years, but as we all know life has lots of ups and downs and I will just have to follow the road put in front of me and work my way there.

I know everyone is proud of me, especially my mom. I came from two parents who were high school drop outs and I am the only child to have a college degree {actually I somehow managed to get TWO college degrees during this long process}.

Going through nursing school with a young toddler was a major struggle that included many sleepless nights and lots of separation anxiety but somehow we both managed to come out okay.

So here is to the future!

Jenn RN

One Month Trial

No gluten {wheat, barley or rye}
No dairy
No nuts
No red grapes
No milk chocolate

I have been having some GI problems and headaches so after a few doctor visits, a colonoscopy and some chiropractic care we have come to the conclusion that I should eliminate some foods to try and help the problem. I do not like taking medication, not even birth control. I just think there are better ways to deal with problems then mask the problem with medication.

Today is day one and it is only morning. Looking through my cabinets and fridge makes me realize I was not quite ready for this adventure and coming up with breakfast was not fun.  I ended up chooses fried eggs with no bread, gosh I missed the bread {honestly I haven't had bread in like three weeks so I think I am really starting to miss it}. I am glad I am trying this over the summer to hopefully have some ideas of what I should keep out of my diet once school starts. And maybe I can come up with some great quick breakfast and lunch ideas for school.

I am hoping to keep a journal of all the food i eat over the month and how I react. I am hoping I won't have a headache at all this month:)

I wrote this after my father stood there and let my step mother yell at me and tell me awful things like she wished i would have died as a child or never been born so she wouldn't have to share my father, as I ran out of the house crying like a baby he runs after me and says sorry under his breath so that she wouldn't hear him. It sucks when a parent does not stand up for their children and let the step parents treat them any way they want.

I'm so tired of apologies on the side

She says what she wants and does what she will

And as I'm hurt walking away

You come and give me an apology on the side

Shes just in a bad mood you say

Her meds are changing and the mood is swinging

And your sorry she acts that way

You don't stand up and tell her calm down

You stand there and take it

And let her treat me to her liking

And all I get is an apology on the side

It's not fair for me to fight

For the father I desperately need

It's not fair that you don't care

And all you care to do is give

An apology on the side